Bananas and kale are abundant with recipes to inspire.

Hello again

I hope you had a lovely weekend. What amazing weather we are being blessed with right now. Even though the forecast is for showers it seems that these are mostly during the night and the sun continues to shine, at least intermittently during the day, giving us the freedom to choose to spend our time outside if we wish. I have my fingers crossed that we have sunshine this Wednesday morning too as the market is about so much more than food.
 
Our market provides a delightful hub for friends and family to gather and enjoy time together and the evidence of this every week gives me great joy. From lots of fun activities in our *Kiddies Patch – where this week we are welcoming a new volunteer – Rachel – who has a passion for eco-style activities. To informal and sometimes unplanned gatherings of friends who spot one another shopping then linger together over a cuppa and delicious food. This social gathering hub is an important part of the farmers’ market experience.
I hope you enjoy our new mats too as we change our marquee set up in late autumn to provide shade for those who love shade and mats for gatherings in the beautiful sunshine.

 
This sense of community and gathering as a community is so important and I was reminded of this yet again as I participated in the Capalaba Parkrun (with three of my grandchildren) early on Saturday morning. We enjoyed a five kilometre run (well … I committed to a very fast paced walk).

If you are not familiar with Parkrun, it is a free, weekly, timed event, taking place at many locations across the world. It is organised by local volunteers and is designed so that everyone is welcome  – whether you walk, jog, run or volunteer. There is one at Kingscliff for our local community if you are interested and looking for a nudge in your motivation to walk or run more.  Perhaps this is it. Exercise and sunshine combined with beautiful farm fresh produce from the market contribute to our health and healthy families. 

*Our Kiddies Patch is with thanks to volunteers organised by The Family Centre.

What’s GREAT at the Market this Week?

Bananas and kale are abundant right now so this week we are shining the spotlight on both. KALE  because the nutritional density of kale is virtually unparalleled among green leafy vegetables. It contains all 9 essential amino acids needed to form the proteins within the human body –  histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine – plus, 9 other non-essential ones for a total of 18. This information is found on the mercola.com website. Dr Mercola also says in his book “Upgrade Your Immunity with Herbs” that kale – a cousin of cabbage and broccoli, is an impressive source of antioxidants and a rich source of:

  • Phytonutrient indole-3-carbinol, which helps in DNA cell repair and slowing down the growth of cancer cells
  • Sulforaphane, which protects against prostate and colon cancer
  • Lutein and zeaxanthin, which guard your eyes from macular degeneration.

  Dr Mercola also says that compared to other leafy green vegetables, kale’s anti-inflammatory capabilities are unbeatable, especially with regards to the treatment and prevention of chronic conditions, such as arthritis, heart disease, and autoimmune diseases.  So ….

How to enjoy kale?
It is delicious finely sliced and fried with onion as a base for poached eggs for a hearty breakfast; it makes a delicious pesto especially when combined with the sweetness of macadamia nuts or macadamia nut paste. AND it is simply amazing coated and slowly dried to make kale chips.

Being a garlic fan I also love it with the sweetness of shelling peas in a garlicky kale and pea saute so when peas arrive at the market guess what I’ll be making? 😋😋😋

I have included my all-time favourite Cheezy Kale Chips recipe in our regular weekly customer newsletter as well as some links to some of my favourite kale recipes.

Maggie Beer’s crispy parmesan kale chips and garlicky kale and pea saute. 

BANANAS – there is no other banana that even begins to compare to Everest bananas. Will Everest is a third generation farmer from a family that selected an 1800 acre farm in Murwillumbah in the early 1900’s. The youngest of six children, Will is always seen behind his stall often with partner Shelle and son Liam. Here the main produce are bananas, paw paw and until recently mangoes, but he also has variety of market garden vegies grown with his brother Matt until recently when the weeks of rain delayed planting new seedlings for their winter crops. Will and Matt each specialise – Will’s specialty is bananas and all the fruit trees (incl. avocados) while Matt specialises in the market garden area of the farm so it is a very complementary arrangement and we are the lucky ones who benefit – often from both. 

Will and his family have won many prizes over the years for their banana’s including Champion at the last Murwillumbah Show run by the Tweed River Agricultural Society back in 2019. They’ve also won Champion at the Royal Queensland Show. Once you eat their bananas you will know exactly why they are prize winners. They are delicious and simply the best.  

Apart from being the perfect lunchbox snack, bananas are almost essential for many smoothies, banana bread, on pancakes and chopped up through a fruit salad.  And caramelised bananas are decadent. Bananas are so versatile that when I saw the recipe for Basmati Rice and Banana Pudding posted by Santos Organics, I knew that I just had to share it with you. What a healthy filling dessert for hungry children. It is included  in the recipes section of this weeks customer newsletter. ENJOY.

This recipe was featured in the latest Santos newsletter.  Recipe Contributors: Christian Cappello  Conscious Ground Kitchen’s  expert team of chefs and nutritionists Instagram: **@consiousgroundkitchen / @cappello_christian